Additional LiFePo4 batteries

[RoamingKat]

The blue sea switch has some bad reviews from sailors who have used it.
I checked it out on JamestownDistributors.

So...I was counting the complete round trip..... 4 ft is actually 8.

I had not thought about what happens when one battery is switched off and the momentary time till the other is on. That would be enough to mess up the solar charge controllers if the panels are under load.

Hummmm. Switching the entire system from one to the other is not the idea...switching chargers independently from the loads is the goal. But that is far more than a simply putting in a master switch.

Even if I could put them in parallel.... with my current bank 3+ years old...probably not a good idea.

[Wayne49]

With either the Blue Seas or the Perko, (I have a Perko installed.) the switch from 1 to 2 goes through "ALL or 1+2" before getting to 2.There is no OFF state in that switching sequence.

My usage is to switch the solar charging from charging one bank to both banks. The load is not affected as the inverter is direct (fused) wired to the one bank. I used larger cables to the inverter than what the solar charger needs. Sharing the charge, but not the load.

[RoamingKat]

Wayne... interesting. Running on both seems like a good idea on the surface....
Any reason this would be a bad idea?

[Wayne49]

You stated that you did not want to interconnect a new bank with an older bank. I was addressing that concern about the switch from 1 to 2 cutting the power to the solar controller during daylight.

The rest of what I said should not be construed as something that someone else should copy.
My way, unfortunately does not isolate the two banks, as I only use 1 or ALL. The connection from the charger to the second bank is not a large gauge wire, so that throttles the charge going to the second bank and any draw on the second from the first bank as it feeds the intermittent inverter, when the refrigerator needs to run.
I am probably killing both banks slowly.

Hi, my name is Wayne and I am a battery abuser.

[RoamingKat]

I am realizing that this change would require a lot of redesign.

I currently have the power single connection to the master switch (simple on off). Then to a power pole.
From there to the power buss for chargers, and power buss for the load. The inverter is cabled you the main power pole because it is an inverter/charger all in one.

Yes, a complete redesign to do this. I need to draw pictures of all this so that I can sort it all out...then think if it is doable.

[Abnorm]

As TX is fond of saying...…..You're on the "Bleeding Edge" of Lithium